Drug induced diabetes mellitus

Drug induced diabetes occurs due to a variety of drugs and mechanisms. Considering the vast number of diabetics in this country and also the wide variety of drugs prescribed for diabetic as well as non-diabetic patients especially the elderly, the entity of drug induced diabetes does not appear to be very common. This suggests that an underlying and often unsuspected abnormality probably increases the risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Sulphonylureas which act primarily by enhancing insulin secretion, would not be an effective therapeutic modality for countering drug induced diabetes. In case the drug has to be continued, insulin therapy is the most efficacious approach. The new thiazolidinedione drugs such as troglitazone which increase insulin sensitivity in patients with glucose intolerance and diabetes, may be very useful in cases where insulin resistance has resulted in diabetes.